Compatibility between extended irreversible thermodynamics and kinetic- theory: Uniform shear flow (Q1060098)

The nonlinear constitutive equations for a non-equilibrium gas in uniform shear flow are obtained at two levels of description: microscopically by using the Boltzmann equation and macroscopically in terms of extended irreversible thermodynamics. For the special case of Maxwell molecules and taking into account viscous heating effects, we show that both approaches generate the same constitutive relations. Moreover, a comparison of both descriptions yields microscopic expressions for the phenomenological coefficients and allows to estimate numerically the relaxation time of the stress tensor, the fast variable of the system. Our results show that for the simple model considered both approaches are compatible, providing thus, a partial microscopic basis for the extended irreversible thermodynamics treatment.